Who you truly love
by Melinda-Gordon
Summary: Who does Elizabeth truly love? warning: contains Dead Man's Chest spoilers.


After a month of desperately sailing the Caribbean, in search of Captain Jack Sparrow; Captain Barbossa, Elizabeth Swann, Will Turner, and the remaining crew of the Black Pearl, sailed upon a ship. It was the Black Pearl, or more what was left of it.

The ship was barely recognizable, except its black hull and sails gave it away. Draped over the sides like a blanket were long tentacles. The smell of rotting flesh was strong as the Swann anchored just off to the side of the Pearl.

Will and Elizabeth rowed over to the Pearl; they were the only ones who could stomach the stench. As they climbed aboard the ship, they were met by a welcome sight that of Jack sparrow leaning against the very pole which Elizabeth had chained him to.

"Jack!" Elizabeth cried out as she ran over to him. Jack stood and welcomed Elizabeth into a warm embrace. He closed his eyes and breathed in her scent as he held onto her. Jack was fully aware of Will's eyes on him. He couldn't blame him really, if he had a girl as beautiful as Elizabeth he would make sure no man ever laid a hand on her.

"Nice to see you too" Jack said as Elizabeth pulled back and looked at him. He was wearing the same outfit that he was wearing the last time they were together. Except now he had his hat back. His hair was a mess and he smelt strongly of rum and rotting flesh. But that was to be expected of someone who was on a boat with rotting octopus all around them. His eyes still had the same spark in them as they always had, and his lips looked just as kissable as they always had. She struggled to control the urge to kiss him, as she was engaged to Will, and she didn't want to hurt him by kissing Jack in front of him, she would wait until she could get him alone somewhere.

"Let's get you back to the Swann" Elizabeth said. She and Will led the way over the edge into the row boat. Will said nothing as they rowed over, nor did he say anything as they climbed aboard the Swann. Will feared that if he said anything, the only words that would come out would be "You bloody bastard! Keep your hands off her!" and he knew that wouldn't go down to well with Elizabeth.

"Welcome back Captain!" Mr. Gibbs said as Jack stood up straight on the deck and brushed some dust off his clothes.

"It's good to be back" Jack replied.

"Come, you must be starving, you need to have some food" Elizabeth said. She grabbed Jack's arm and led him to the cabin.

As the door clicked shut behind them Elizabeth threw herself into Jack's arms. She was crying.

"I'm so sorry Jack!" She cried over and over again.

"I know you are" Jack replied. His rough voice was soothing to her. She buried her face in his neck and cried.

"I just did what I thought was right" Elizabeth tried to explain.

"I know, you were just trying to save the people that you could"

"But, I didn't realise that I would be losing something that would never get back"

"But you have gotten it back haven't you?"

"Yes, I have but I've taken someone else's too, and I don't know how to give it back" No-one else would understand what they were talking about, yet they understood each other perfectly.

"Now, you said something about food, you don't happen to have any rum with that offer as well?" Jack said, breaking the silence that had developed between them. Elizabeth laughed and led Jack to the dining table.

Jack sat down and Elizabeth placed a plate of food in front of him along with a bottle of rum. Jack gulped down the food and the rum.

"Thank you, I was starving" Jack said when he finished his meal. "Could I trouble you for some more rum?"

"I think you've had enough" Elizabeth replied, she could smell the rum on his breath from the other side of the table.

"I suppose, has dear ol' William been treating you good?" Jack questioned. Elizabeth's expression changed.

"Yeah, he always treats me well; he'd never raise a hand to me." Elizabeth replied, although she said this with pride, her eyes said that she didn't really care for the man she really loved wouldn't hit her either.

"I know he never would, he loves you to much. Don't hurt him, if you love someone else more than you love him, let him go" Jack said. This surprised Elizabeth; Jack Sparrow was the last man she would ever expect to give her advice on her love life.

"But how? How do I tell him that I don't love him enough?" Elizabeth asked her voice full of confusion. Jack knew that she loved Will, but he felt something strong between them too, but he didn't want to do anything in-case he was wrong and that she was with Will forever.

"I don't know" Jack replied. He stood up and so did Elizabeth. They both couldn't fight it anymore. Elizabeth ran to him and threw her arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her waist and looked into her eyes. He leaned his head in towards hers and brushed his lips against hers lightly. She returned the kiss with a little more passion. He smiled to himself as the kiss deepened. When her lips began to part, he pulled away.

"You have to choose" He said, "It's not fair to William" He pulled away and picked up his plate and went to the kitchen.

She knew that he was right, she had to choose. She could either have a safe life with Will, or an exciting and dangerous life with Jack. It tore at her heart to know that she would have to hurt one of the two people she cared the most for. But she had to do it; she had to set one of them free, she could only pray to god that she was doing the right thing.

Elizabeth pushed the doors to the cabin open and boldly strode onto the deck and looked around the deck for Will. She knew he was outside somewhere, because she had just come through the only door leading inside and she knew that no0one had gone in there except her and Jack.

"Will!" Elizabeth called out.

"Over here!" He called out in reply. He was at the stern, looking out at the sea. He turned to look at her, his smile faded when he saw the expression which covered her beautiful face.

"There's something I need to tell you" She said.

"I know that you kissed Jack" Will said. He leaned against the rail.

'_You do? Well that makes this so much easier' _Elizabeth felt like saying, but she knew that it wouldn't make what she was about to do any easier, it'd just make things worse.

"There's no easy way to say this, I'm so sorry Will, but, I can't marry you" Elizabeth said, her eyes filled with water and she had to bite her lip to stop from crying. Will gave her a look of pain and began to sidestep away from her.

"Will, please say something!" Elizabeth pleaded, she longed for him to say something, anything, even if he just cursed her.

"I….I'll….I'll kill him" Will said as he walked towards the cabin.

"Will no! Please! If you love me, please don't hurt him!" Elizabeth cried. Tears ran freely down her face as she pleaded for Jack's life.

"I won't hurt him, I'll kill him!" Will replied. "Why would you care anyway? You tried to kill him first!"

"That was different! I was saving us!" Elizabeth yelled at Will. She hated how he was taking it. She knew it was stupid, but she was hoping that he would take it all like a slap on the back of the hand, like it didn't really matter. But of course, being Will, he had to take it really hard. She couldn't blame him; she'd do the same if it happened to her.

Will ran towards the cabin, his sword drawn.

Will pushed the doors to the cabin open and stepped inside. He walked around the table. The doors swung shut behind him, banging loudly.

"Elizabeth?" Jack called out, assuming Elizabeth had returned. He walked out of the kitchen, only to be faced with Will's sword.

"Why hello to you too" Jack said sarcastically as he ducked out of the way. He drew his sword too.

"You really don't want to do this" Jack said.

"Oh believe me, I do!" Will replied as he swung his sword at Jack, Jack dodged the swipe and returned one of his own. They fought for a few minutes until Jack got Will's sword out of his hand and cornered him.

"Go on, kill me! You've already stolen my life!" Will said. He put his hands above his head. Jack pressed the tip of his sword against Will's chest, and then pulled it away.

"Just because Elizabeth isn't the one, doesn't mean there will never be someone who loves you" Jack said, he put his sword away.

"But I love her so much! I can't even look at other women!" Will replied.

"There are other fish in the sea, mate, and face it, the b…well I'm not the best man but, I won, you'll find someone else, I promise" Jack said. He picked up Will's sword and put it away with his own before he walked out onto the deck, leaving Will to be by himself.

"Jack!" Elizabeth cried out as Jack strolled casually onto the deck. Jack smiled as Elizabeth kissed him passionately; he knew that she was what his heart wanted most. When he had returned to the Black Pearl, it wasn't because he knew that it was the right thing to do, it was because the compass pointed towards it, actually, it pointed towards Elizabeth, it had done so several times before too, when ever she was near and he looked at the compass it pointed to her. When she was not near him and off on land somewhere and he was out at sea, the needle never sat still, because it couldn't find her, and Jack wasn't sure of his feelings.

Jack returned the kiss. He knew that Will's heart was broken but, for once in his life, he felt as if he had done the right thing. He knew that he was nearly twice her age, but age was no barrier, they had an undeniable connection, and a love so strong not even the largest age gap could ever come between them.

THE END

A/N: I know it's terrible; I just had to write it though. Please read and review! This is my first POTC fic.

None of these characters are mine and never will be. I'm receiving no profit for their use.


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